Panorama Paedorama

Continued from here (please read first)

Outraged by the BBCs Panorama: One Click From Danger programme on BBC1 on Monday night, I left the following on the BBC parenting message board:

Wow, does anyone else see the distinct irony of this?
Of course, by joining the BBC parenting message board, I am submitting myself to the risk of the internet! Right now, behind every hyperlink that I click, there's going to be a paedophile waiting to attack me.
For some reason, adults seem to think that Young People are stupid, and apparently have absolutely no common sense. Now, settle yourselves in your chairs, because this is going to be a long one.
Firstly, when it comes to the internet, and technology in general, kids are (for the most part) running loops around adults. We know what we're doing. The majority of teenagers can find a way around most "safety features" on the average family computer. Don't, for one second, think you can stop them using networking sites by blocking it, or password protecting your internet browswer.
As a friend of mine pointed out on the Panorama comments page, the internet is a world in itself.
You're at no more risk on the internet than you are walking down your local high street. If you go into an area in the real world, where there is a lot of trouble, you can only expect to end up injured or cuaght up in it. The same applies on the internet.
I myself am part of several online communites - message boards, networking sites, etc. I have met people from the internet. We meet up in groups in public places to avoid danger. If a paedophile wants to turn up, he'll have a hell of a difficulty taking on 12 teenagers. I've never had any difficulty on the internet, and nor have the majority of teenagers who use the net.
I feel that panorama has seriously mislead people into beleiving that their children are about to be raped/molested. If a parent decides to stop their child using the internet for leisure(as at least one rather clueless parent has)then they should also stop their child from being allowed out of the house on their own. It's ridiculous!

Those parents who have done this, please, take a step back from yourself for a moment, can you not see that you're being pathetically moronically intrusive, nosey, mistrusting, oppressing and niave? Standing and watching over your teenagers shoulder while they're on the internet is just ... weird! Would you like it, if someone was listening in on your private conversations, things that you didn't want them to hear? Teenagers use the internet to communicate with their friends and talk about things that they would feel uncomfortable saying face to face. By not allowing your child to do anything but homework, or watching them all the time, you're probably doing more harm than good. I'm sure, you've got your childs best interests at heart, and you want to protect them, but you can't pad them in cotton wool for their whole lifes, even if they have been affected by predators. Let's face it, you're blocking one of the few ways they've got of venting their anger and unhappiness.
I'm now going to jump back to the "Kids are stupid" stereotype (certainly not helped by biased shows such as Panorama). Young people do have a brain, as much as it may surprise you. It's common sense not to put personal details on the internet in a place which is accessible to possible predators. All you have to do is make that clear to them. Young People are perfectly aware of this most of the time, and there's nothing wrong with you reminding them, or occasionally checking. Most Young People are also not thick enough to meet up with people on a one to one basis, and those that do, need talking to. None of this, however, means that you have to relocate your computer, attempt to monitor your childs online activity, make them exile themselves from the internet or breath down their necks.
The fact that a small minority (and it really is a minority - not that Panorama would let you beleive it, due to their grossly incorrect facts and figures) of young people have been targetted, hurt, scared, molested as a result of using the internet, does not mean that the rest of us should be blindfolded and wrapped in bubble wrap for the rest of our teenage lifes. Most kids are sensible online, and I support CEOP in what they do. I don't, however, support Panorama in their scare-mongoring, incorrect, stereotypical and biased attempt to provide information to the public. Panorama told people what they wanted to hear, not the truth. You'll only get the truth by speaking to Young People and LISTENING to them, not off some hopeless team of 40 year old "investigators", whose only skill seems to that of making stuff up. The decoy they used, acted nothing like a 14 year old girl (for a start, no 14 year old is that niave about sex), the interviews conducted were all completely biased, and the overall effect of the programme being broadcast, was lots of angry teenagers (way to go, BBC, they'll thank you for that, I'm sure), lots of parents wasting their time trying to install software that a 9 year old could get around, and lots more parents doing themselves neck damage as they crane for a look at their childs computer monitor.

Once again, BBC/Panorama, well done on scaring the nation. Never again will I quote the BBC as being "accurate and reliable". I think that veiw is shared by many people.


So, any parents reading this [on this blog], please do take these points into consideration if you intend on doing such things to your teenagers. Any comments welcome, I'll answer as soon as I can.